The Donald Spoke Too Soon - No Settlement

The Donald Spoke Too Soon - No Settlement

SAMUEL MAULL

Mar. 22, 1991

NEW YORK (AP) _ Donald Trump tried to give away a $10 million check, but his ex-wife, Ivana, wasn't there to take it.

The developer stood outside a Manhattan courthouse Thursday waving the divorce settlement check, but the judge in the case said Trump hadn't cut a deal yet.

''It is not settled. It was never settled. Hopefully, it will soon be settled,'' Judge Phyllis Gangel-Jacob said.

On Wednesday, Trump loudly claimed to have settled, saying Ivana would get $10 million, their Connecticut mansion and a Manhattan apartment. Mrs. Trump's attorney, Michael Kennedy, said Thursday that Trump was all wrong.

''Contrary to the statements of Mr. Trump and his lawyers, the case has not settled and will not settle until Mr. Trump honors his obligations to Mrs. Trump and her children,'' Kennedy said.

Kennedy had been unavailable for comment Wednesday because he was at a trial in California.

The couple has until April 11 to reach a monetary settlement or the case will go to trial.

The absence of a settlement - even his own attorney, Stanford Lotwin, acknowledged there were details to be worked out - did nothing to stop Trump's posturing.

''I'm here with what I'm supposed to be here with - a certified check for $10 million,'' Trump said. ''That's what it's all about. People have to live up to their agreements.''

The developer also accused his ex-wife of ''trying to nickel and dime me to death.'' Trump said his claimed settlement was exactly what the couple agreed to in a December 1987 postnuptial agreement.

After months of public hassling and haggling, Mrs. Trump won a divorce Dec. 11 based on her husband's ''cruel and inhuman treatment.'' Trump has been romantically linked with model Marla Maples.

The Trumps have three children, who have been staying with their mother since their parents' split became public in February 1990.